3. Didier Drogba (Ivorian)
Ivorian retired professional footballer Didier Yves Drogba Tébily was born in Abidjan and at the age of five was sent to France by his parents to live with his uncle, Michel Goba, a professional footballer.
Tito, as his mother called him, started his youth career in 1988, where he played for Tourcoing and then moved to Abbeville in 1989.
Drogba joined Le Mans from Ligue 2 in France and made his first team debut at Le Mans shortly thereafter and signed his first professional contract in 1999. That same year, he and his Malian wife Alla they had his first child, Isaac. Droba spent four seasons with the Ligue 2 team before moving to Guinguamp for a fee of £ 80,000, where he spent just one season from 2002 to 2003.
Didier Drogba moved to Olympique de Marseille from Ligue 1 for a fee of £ 3.3 million and became a fan favorite due to his excellent performances.
Droba’s performance attracted Chelsea and he went on to sign for the club for a record £ 24 million fee and scored his first goal against Crystapalace in the 2004 season.
The Ivorian international spent eight seasons with Chelsea, earning them four Premier League trophies with three FA Cups and the most prestigious UEFA Champions League trophy in the 2011/2012 season.
After a stellar career with Chelsea, Drogba went through Shanghai Shenhua in China, Montreal Impact in America and Galatasaray in Turkey.
Drogba won the African Footballer of the Year award in 2006, 2009 and was fourth at the Ballon Dor in 2007.
Drogba is credited with leading Côte d’Ivoire’s qualification for their first FIFA World Cup, held in Germany in 2006.